Browsing by Author "Obin, Kizito Kaguta"

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    Determining the effect of vitamin C on the efficacy of albendazole in local chicken.
    (Busitema University, 2026) Obin, Kizito Kaguta
    Gastrointestinal helminthiasis remains one of the great hindrances to poultry production in Soroti City and other districts in eastern Uganda. Use of albendazole in treatment and management of worms in chicken has been reported in previous studies. On the other hand other previous studies reported use of vitamin C and albendazole combinations in managing worm infestations in chicken. In this current study we assess the effect of combining albendazole with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in treatment of local chicken at Busitema University Arapai Campus Farm. I took 30 local chickens and split them equally into three groups; one group only in albendazole (20 mg/kg), another group in albendazole plus Vitamin C (20 mg/kg and 100 mg/0.5 kg body weight), and the last group got no treatment at all. After treating, I measured how many parasite eggs remained in their feces and how much the count dropped using the modified McMaster method. For analysis, I ran the usual descriptive stats, a one-way ANOVA, and then Tukey’s HSD to see where the differences is. Here is what happened: Chickens that got both albendazole and Vitamin C saw the biggest drop in parasite eggs (average reduction of 265.00 ± 52.97) better than those that got only albendazole with ( average reduction of 235.00 ± 102.88), and ahead of the untreated group with (average reduction of 130.00 ± 82.33). Not only that Vitamin C boost effectiveness, but it also made the response more consistent between individual birds cutting response variance almost by half compared to the group that were treated with albendazole alone. When I checked under the microscope, I found almost no strongyle-type nematode eggs left in the birds treated with the combo. Why does Vitamin C help? It fights oxidative stress, keeps the gut lining healthy, and ramps up immune function, which basically makes albendazole work better and last longer in the bird’s system. In short, adding Vitamin C to albendazole therapy gets much better results than sticking with albendazole alone.